Department of Health and Social Care

Health Update

Maria Caulfield: I wish to inform the House of the Government’s plan for introducing a statutory medical examiner system from April 2024. Medical examiners are senior medical doctors who provide independent scrutiny of the causes of non-coronial deaths. In scrutinising deaths, they:seek to confirm the proposed cause of death by the medical doctor and the overall accuracy of the medical certificate of cause of death;discuss the proposed cause of death with bereaved people and establish if they have questions or any concerns relating to the death;support appropriate referrals to senior coroners;identify cases for further review under local mortality arrangements and contribute to other clinical governance processes.The changes will put all of the medical examiner system’s obligations, duties and responsibilities on to a statutory footing and ensure they are recognised by law. For example, it will be a legal requirement that medical examiners scrutinise all non-coronial deaths. This will help to deter criminal activity and poor practice, increase transparency and offer the bereaved an opportunity to raise concerns.In preparation for this, the relevant provisions of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 and the Health and Care Act 2022 will be commenced by autumn 2023. We will also publish draft regulations by autumn 2023, and will lay the regulations when parliamentary time allows.The introduction of medical examiners is part of a broader death certification, registration and coronial process. We are working closely across Government to ensure that from both a legislative and operational perspective we are supporting the professions involved so that they are prepared for the full introduction of the statutory system from April 2024.

Treasury

Tax administration and maintenance: Spring 2023

Victoria Atkins: As announced at the Spring Budget the government is setting out further technical tax policy proposals that support its ambition to simplify and modernise the tax system, tackle non-compliance, make the tax system fairer for taxpayers and to make the customs system work better for traders.Simplification and modernisationThe government wants the tax system to be simple, fair and to support growth. In autumn 2022, the government issued a clear mandate to put tax simplification at the heart of policy making.The Spring Budget announced the first steps, with a range of improvements to make it easier for businesses to interact with the tax system. This included:a systematic review to improve HMRC guidance and key forms for small businessesa consultation to expand the ‘cash basis’, a simplified way for over four million sole traders to calculate and pay their Income Taxdelivering the IT changes to enable agents to payroll benefits in kind on behalf of employers, anda package of measures to simplify customs import and export processes for traders, taking advantage of new freedoms following EU exit and promoting economic growth by making importing and exporting as easy as possible.The government is now taking the next steps to make tax as simple as possible for taxpayers.Firstly, the government is committed to supporting saving and investment through simplification of the tax system. Announcements today include:Help to Save: At Spring Budget 2023 the government announced that it will extend the Help to Save (HtS) scheme in its current form by 18 months until April 2025 and set out the intention to launch a consultation. The government is now publishing a consultation on the scheme design to determine how it could be simplified.Modernisation of the Stamp Taxes on Shares framework: The government is publishing a consultation on proposals to modernise and digitise the framework for Stamp Taxes on Shares. This consultation seeks views on proposals to ensure that any new framework will meet its objectives for a simple, clear and efficient tax system.The government is publishing two further documents as part of HMRC’s wider Tax Administration Framework Review (TAFR). These documents continue our work to ensure the UK’s tax administration framework keeps pace with the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century, and supports a modern and effective tax system.Information & Data: Smarter use of Information and data, including from third parties, has the potential to simplify tax administration for individuals and businesses, and improve HMRC’s compliance capabilities. This call for evidence focuses on how legislation could be updated to standardise and simplify data provision, and make sure taxpayer information is appropriately protected.A legislative approach to piloting: This discussion document seeks views on a new approach known as a “sandbox” that HMRC could use to pilot changes. The document will explore opportunities and challenges of possible sandbox testing models, and what safeguards might be necessary and proportionate.Building on the customs announcements made at Spring Budget:Customs treatment of post and parcel exports: The government is publishing a consultation on proposals to improve the customs treatment of post and parcel exports. This is to ensure customs facilitations for low-value post and parcels are as beneficial as possible, while creating a level playing field for operators to export low-value goods with ease.Tackling the Tax GapSince 2010 the government has introduced over 200 new measures and invested over £2 billion extra in HMRC to tackle non-compliance in the tax system. In 2021-22, HMRC secured and protected £30.8 billion for public services that would otherwise have gone unpaid.This action has ensured the tax gap has remained on a long-term downward trend and one of the lowest published worldwide. We remain committed to driving the tax gap down further.The consultations announced today build on announcements at Spring Budget:Tackling non-compliance in the umbrella company market: The government will shortly publish a summary of responses to the 2021 call for evidence on the umbrella company market. Alongside this, the government will publish a consultation on policy options to regulate umbrella companies and to tackle non-compliance in the umbrella company market.Tackling promoters of tax avoidance: As announced at Spring Budget the government is publishing a consultation on both the introduction of a new criminal offence for promoters of tax avoidance and expediting the disqualification of directors of companies involved in promoting tax avoidance.Repayment Agents: As announced on 11 January 2023, the government will require repayment agents to register with HMRC to protect vulnerable customers. Repayment agents will need to register (within a three-month window) starting on 2 May 2023.Further tax policy and administration announcementsThe government is also making a number of other tax policy announcements to improve tax administration, increase transparency and address concerns that have been raised including:National Insurance credit changes: The government recognises concerns that some parents who have not claimed Child Benefit could miss out on their future entitlement to a full State Pension. The government will address this issue to enable affected parents to receive a National Insurance credit retrospectively. Further detail on next steps will be available in due course.Plastic Packaging Tax: The government will consult on allowing a mass balance approach for calculating the proportion of recycled content in chemically recycled plastics, for the purposes of the Plastic Packaging Tax. The consultation will be launched later this year.The full list of publications and announcements can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tax-administration-and-maintenance-summary-spring-2023

Northern Ireland Office

NI Finances 2023-24

Chris Heaton-Harris: Despite the progress that has been made with the Windsor Framework it is with considerable disappointment that I find it is necessary for me to once again step in and set a Budget for Northern Ireland for 2023-24. The challenging budget position means that Northern Ireland departments need clarity on their budget allocations now to deliver a balanced budget. I will bring forward a Budget Bill in due course. The context of setting the Northern Ireland Budget for 2023-24 has been very difficult. With agreement from the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, flexibility has been granted on the repayment of the £297 million overspend from the 2022-23 Budget. This will provide some protection to front line public services in Northern Ireland from having to take the most severe reductions. However, difficult decisions remain in order to live within the funding available. To support this, I am committing any future in year Barnett consequentials for 2023-24 to repaying the Reserve claim. Should this not amount to £297 million, I will work with HM Treasury to reallocate funding from previously announced Northern Ireland funding packages, with the residual to be repaid in 2024-25. The UK Government has for many years recognised the unique challenges Northern Ireland faces. We have provided around £7 billion in additional funding to Northern Ireland since 2014, on top of the Barnett-based block grant. The Northern Ireland Budget per person is around 20% higher than equivalent UK Government spending in other parts of the UK. Yet, the level of public services offered are still not affordable and outcomes are not improving. We need the Executive back so that they can progress much needed and long promised public service transformation. 2023-24 Budget allocations I set out below the resource and capital allocations which I consider to be an appropriate settlement for Northern Ireland departments. In deciding these allocations I have engaged intensively with the Northern Ireland Civil Service. I am grateful to them for their engagement. I have also met with Sir Robert Chote, the Chair of the Northern Ireland Fiscal Council and I have received a range of representations from public groups and individuals. Non-ring fenced resource funding On the resource side, this Budget position delivers: For Health, this Budget provides £7.3 billion in funding. It also ring-fences funding for abortion services, as ensuring availability of services is a statutory duty on me as the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. For Education, this Budget provides £2.6 billion in funding. For Justice, this Budget provides £1.2 billion in funding. For Economy, this Budget provides £772 million in funding, including £1.1 million for the Public Service Obligation route from City of Derry Airport to London. Capital Departmental Expenditure Limits For capital, this Budget provides continuing investment and enables key projects to progress. It also ensures sufficient funding to meet departmental capital commitments that can progress in the absence of an Executive. Revenue Raising My department has continued to work closely with the Northern Ireland Department of Finance on a sustainable and strategic approach to public finances, which includes options for revenue raising in line with the rest of the UK. The lower levels of revenue generation but higher public service provision in Northern Ireland compared to the rest of the UK is unsustainable. GovernanceThe Government must also ensure that Northern Ireland departments can continue to operate. That is why the Government has today introduced the Northern Ireland (Interim Arrangements) Bill to ensure ongoing governance in the short term, should Northern Ireland remain without Ministers beyond 5 June.The Bill continues the powers already afforded to Permanent Secretaries in Northern Ireland departments in the absence of an Executive. It also grants powers that will allow the UK Government to explore, with the Northern Ireland Civil Service, options for increasing budget sustainability including further revenue raising in Northern Ireland.The right way for Northern Ireland to be governed is through locally accountable and elected government. But we have a duty to the people of Northern Ireland and in managing public funds to ensure Northern Ireland's finances can be put on a sustainable path. That is why these powers are deliberately focused on official advice and public consultation. The final decisions for any implementation are best taken by Northern Ireland’s elected leaders. But we are taking these steps now to ensure that work progresses towards a more sustainable system in Northern Ireland that better reflects what is happening across the rest of the UK. Annex A (docx, 14.4KB)

Home Office

Independent Review of the Police-led Management of Registered Sex Offenders

Miss Sarah Dines: The Home Office has today published a report outlining the findings and recommendations from the Independent Review of the Police’s Management of Registered Sex Offenders (‘the Review’) carried out by former Chief Constable of Derbyshire Constabulary, Mick Creedon. Sexual offences are devastating crimes that can leave a long-lasting impact on victims. The UK already has one of the most robust systems in the world for managing registered sex offenders and individuals who pose a risk of sexual harm.To ensure our system is as robust as it can be, we recently made a number of changes through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 to: enable the courts to impose positive obligations via sexual harm prevention orders (SHPO) or sexual risk orders (SRO) where appropriate, for example, requiring an individual to engage in a behaviour change programme;specify that the court should apply the lower civil standard of proof (‘balance of probabilities’) when determining whether the individual the application is made in respect of has done the act in question;remove the need for the police to seek a court order to place notification requirements on an individual convicted of an equivalent, relevant sexual offence in a foreign court. The requirement for a court order has been replaced with a power for the police to give a notice requiring the relevant offenders to notify when authorised by an officer of the rank inspector or above;confer a power on the Secretary of State to prepare (or direct a relevant person, such as the National Crime Agency (NCA), to prepare) a list of countries deemed to be at high risk of child sexual abuse by UK nationals or residents, which must be considered by applicants and the courts when applying for or making a SHPO or SRO for the purpose of protecting children outside the UK from sexual harm; andenable the enforceability across the UK of new SHPO and SROs. The carrying out of the Review was a commitment made in the Government’s July 2021 Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy. On the 2 March 2022, the then Home Secretary announced that Mick Creedon would undertake the Review. Its terms of reference stated that it would: “consider the consistency of the management of registered sex offenders across England and Wales and whether current capabilities to manage registered sex offenders are fit for purpose…and whether the regime protecting the public from them could be strengthened further”.   The Review considered evidence in relation to a number of factors, including: police resourcing;the consistency of offender management;information sharing;risk management tools and orders;risk assessment and prioritisation; andtraining. Mr Creedon conducted extensive engagement throughout 2022 with a range of expert stakeholders representing the different functions of the police in respect of sexual offences and sex offender management. He also engaged with organisations responsible for setting and inspecting the police’s standards, as well as representatives from other criminal justice agencies and civil society. Mr Creedon is clear that in his view that the multi-agency approach to the assessment and management of the risks posed by registered sex offenders is the right approach. I echo the tribute that he pays to the dedication, commitment and professionalism of all those involved in the management of registered sex offenders: the police, other criminal justice agencies and those in the voluntary and charitable sector that work tirelessly with victims and survivors, as well as ex-offenders. The version of the report being published today is an executive summary which does not include certain sensitive information. As the House will understand, it would not be appropriate to put information into the public domain that could potentially be of use to an offender seeking to circumvent the system designed to prevent their offending. The full and unedited version of the report has been shared with relevant criminal justice agencies to whom recommendations are addressed. I thank Mr Creedon for the energy and diligence that he has shown in his engagement and the analysis that underpins his recommendations. Among Mr Creedon’s most significant recommendations are those which propose changes to the notification requirements system. The notification requirements (often referred to as the ‘sex offenders’ register’) have existed in some form since 1997 and require qualifying offenders to notify specific personal details to the police annually or whenever those details change. The notification requirements are a valuable tool in the risk management of registered sex offenders - any changes would require careful consideration to ensure that they contributed to making the sex offender management regime as strong as it can be. I have met criminal justice agencies and other partners to have an initial discussion Mr Creedon’s findings and recommendations. We will carefully consider the recommendations, ensuring that our focus continues to be that our system for managing sex offenders is robust as it can be. A copy of the executive summary report has been placed in the libraries of both Houses and published on Gov.UK.

Department for Transport

Transport Update

Mr Richard Holden: The Government recognises the important role that taxis and private hire vehicles play in the wider transport network. The Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022 applies in England and requires better information-sharing between taxi and private hire vehicle licensing authorities to ensure that unfit drivers cannot hide previous instances of misconduct.The first part of the Act came into force on 31 May 2022 requiring licensing authorities to report safeguarding and road safety concerns about drivers licensed by other authorities to the licensing authority that issued the driver’s licence. Licensing authorities that receive concerns about a driver it has licensed must then consider whether to suspend or revoke the driver’s licence.Since then, the Department has been working to put in place arrangements so the rest of the Act could be brought into force. Licensing authorities will be required to use a database to record instances where taxi and private hire vehicle drivers have their licences removed, suspended or refused for misconduct. When deciding whether to grant or renew a driver licence, licensing authorities must search the database for any entry relating to the applicant.I am pleased to announce that the Secretary of State has designated the National Anti-Fraud Network as the database provider under the Act. The National Anti-Fraud Network’s voluntary database has been in use successfully for several years. Over 70% of licensing authorities in England are already using the database to vet their driver licence applicants.From today, using the database is compulsory. The National Anti-Fraud Network will grant access to the database to all the relevant taxi and private hire vehicle licensing bodies in the UK. Government is covering the cost of administering this vital safeguarding database.Requiring the use of the database across England will ensure that licensing authorities have more of the information they need to make the correct decisions, preventing drivers who could do harm getting a license elsewhere without being challenged. This change will help protect passengers, and the reputations of the vast majority of drivers, from those who are unfit to hold a licence.This vital improvement to passenger safety builds on wider work this Government is doing to protect the public, with the commitment to prioritise prevention, support survivors, and strengthen the pursuit of those who abuse their position of trust. This includes the new Grooming Gangs Taskforce the Prime Minister announced to root out and put more perpetrators behind bars. We are also fundamentally transforming victims’ experiences through the new Victims and Prisoners Bill, amplifying their voices and strengthening their care.

Prime Minister

UK COVID-19 Inquiry

Rishi Sunak: On 28 June 2022, the final terms of reference for the Covid-19 Inquiry were announced in this House. Baroness Hallett has emphasised that she is keen to start hearing evidence as quickly as possible and to make timely recommendations. To assist with this, and following careful consideration and consultation with Baroness Hallett, I have decided the Inquiry will be most efficient and swift if Baroness Hallett sits without a panel.To help ensure that the Inquiry has the expertise required for its broad scope, Baroness Hallett stated when she opened the Inquiry that she would appoint scientific, economic and other experts to help her with her work, covering a range of different topics and views. The reports and advice Baroness Hallett receives from these experts will be entered into evidence and published by the Inquiry.Experts will play an important role in the Inquiry but the pandemic has affected every one of us right across the United Kingdom. We have always been very clear that the Inquiry must hear from those most affected by the pandemic, including those who have tragically lost their loved ones. The Inquiry will be gathering views from the public in a number of different ways, including through a ‘listening exercise’ which will enable individuals to contribute to the Inquiry without the formality of giving evidence or attending a public hearing.The Inquiries Act allows the independent inquiry chair to determine an inquiry’s process and procedure. Baroness Hallett has considerable experience and expertise in leading complex investigations. She is putting in place mechanisms to enable the Inquiry to gather the breadth of evidence and experiences needed to deliver its work effectively and efficiently, with the findings and recommendations published as soon as practicable.I therefore believe that the Inquiry will have access to a range of expertise which negates the need for a panel. For these reasons, and for those of pace, I have decided not to pursue a panel to sit alongside Baroness Hallett.In weighing up these issues, I am conscious of the recent criticism over the length of time that the public Inquiry may take to reach its conclusions. It is in the public interest that the Inquiry is thorough, rigorous and comprehensive, but also delivers its report without excessive delay.